Poet Immortal, Poet Sage, Duke of the State!

The third floor of Qunyu Tower.

The entrance to a private room.

The maid pushed open the carved wooden door, stepped aside, and smiled at Chen Chang'an, saying, "Please come in, young master."

Chen Chang'an nodded slightly to her and stepped inside.

The room was small, but the furnishings were extremely elegant.

A huanghuali wood table sits by the window, and sandalwood incense burns slowly in a celadon incense burner on the table.

A landscape painting hangs on the wall, and beneath it sits a guqin (a traditional Chinese stringed instrument).

A figure stood before the bed, dressed in a plain white dress, her hair pulled back and secured with a single silver hairpin.

The woman wore a thin veil, obscuring her true appearance, revealing only a pair of clear eyes.

Hearing footsteps, she turned around and her gaze fell on Chen Chang'an.

The next moment, her beautiful eyes beneath the veil brightened slightly.

She had only seen a blurry outline through the screen.

Now that they were standing face to face, she realized that this young man was younger than she had imagined, and very handsome, perfectly matching her image of a talented scholar.

She had seen too many men come to her door seeking an audience; some were all smiles, some were pretentious, and some, once inside, couldn't wait to start boasting.

The young man before them was completely different from them. He simply stood there quietly, his gaze clear and open, without the slightest intention of flattery or fawning.

This feeling made her feel very comfortable.

Chen Chang'an's gaze fell indifferently on the woman opposite him.

As expected of the most beautiful courtesan in the capital, even though she was wearing a veil, you could tell from her eyes and features that she was a rare beauty.

However, having seen countless beauties in his previous life, he had long since passed the stage of being unable to take his eyes off beautiful women.

Gu Qingcheng bowed slightly and said softly, "Thank you for the poem, young master. I have read countless words of praise in my life, but none of them have ever made me savor them as much as yours. You are truly talented, young master. I admire you greatly."

Chen Chang'an waved his hand and said with a smile, "You're too kind, young lady."

Gu Qingcheng asked, "May I ask your esteemed name, young master?"

Chen Chang'an thought for a moment and said, "Shen An."

Gu Qingcheng nodded slightly, pointed to the chair by the window, and said, "Please sit down, young master. I have nothing to repay you with for this wonderful piece today, so how about I play a tune for you on the zither to express my gratitude..."

As she spoke, she turned and walked to the guqin, her fingertips resting on the strings, about to play.

"Wait a minute."

Chen Chang'an suddenly spoke, then reached for his waist.

Gu Qingcheng caught a glimpse of his movement out of the corner of her eye, and her heart tightened immediately.

She had seen too many people who used the pretext of presenting poems to get close to her, and many of them tried to take advantage of her. She never expected that this young man, whom she had a good impression of, would be just like them...

She immediately straightened her face and said in a deep voice, "Young master, please have some self-respect..."

She froze on the spot as soon as she finished speaking.

Instead of undressing, the young man took out a small celadon bottle from his waist.

Gu Qingcheng looked puzzled and murmured, "Young Master, this is..."

Chen Chang'an didn't explain much, but instead uncorked the bottle and handed the porcelain bottle to her.

In an instant, a clear and delicate floral fragrance wafted from the bottle, mingling with the scent of sandalwood, and filled the room.

Gu Qingcheng's eyes flickered slightly as she asked, "This is... fragrant dew?"

Chen Chang'an nodded and asked with a smile, "What does Miss Qingcheng think of this fragrant dew?"

As the most sought-after courtesan in the capital, Gu Qingcheng had naturally seen Xianglu.

Although the perfumes at Ruyilou were only supplied to the female relatives of high-ranking officials and nobles, some sons of officials who were pursuing her also gave her a few bottles of perfumes.

The scent of this perfume was stronger than that of the perfume from Ruyilou, but it wasn't pungent at all; it smelled very pleasant and was the best quality perfume she had ever seen.

A smile appeared on her face as she asked, "This perfume is of even better quality than that from Ruyi Pavilion. Did you give this to Qingcheng, young master?"

Chen Chang'an coughed lightly and said, "Miss Qingcheng is very knowledgeable. What do you think about selling this fragrant dew for ten taels of silver?"

Gu Qingcheng nodded subconsciously and said, "The perfume from Ruyi Tower can sell for ten taels of silver, so this perfume is of even better quality and is naturally worth ten taels of silver..."

Chen Chang'an smiled and said, "That's good. I wonder if Miss Qingcheng would be willing to do business with me?"

Gu Qingcheng stared blankly at Chen Chang'an, momentarily unable to recover.

This young master came to the poetry gathering and wrote such a fine poem for her. Was it not to see her, but to promote his perfume?

A deep sense of frustration rose in her heart, but she also felt somewhat amused and bewildered.

She pursed her lips, looked at Chen Chang'an, and said, "May I ask what kind of business you are referring to, young master?"

Chen Chang'an had already prepared his explanation. Upon hearing this, he said, "I would like to invite you to use the fragrant dew from my Qing Shuang Fang, and recommend it to the sisters at Qun Yu Lou. Any customer recommended by you can purchase it at a 10% discount, and for every bottle sold, I will give you an additional tael of silver as a reward..."

You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub. Chen Chang'an needs Gu Qingcheng to be the live-streaming host for Qing Shuang Fang. The cost of perfume is lower than that of cologne. Even if it costs eight taels of silver a bottle, they can still make a lot of money.

Gu Qingcheng looked at Chen Chang'an and asked in surprise, "Qingshuangfang... May I ask if you are from Qingshuangfang, young master...?"

Qing Shuang Lu was all the rage in the capital a few days ago, and even she was using it. Unexpectedly, she heard the name Qing Shuang Fang again in this kind of occasion.

Chen Chang'an smiled and said, "To be honest, I am the manager of Qing Shuang Fang."

He looked at Gu Qingcheng and added, "Miss, you only need to use my scented dew daily. If anyone asks, just mention it casually. If the other ladies in the brothel buy it, I will settle accounts monthly based on the quantity. With your connections, you'll earn at least tens or hundreds of taels of silver a month. This amount may not be much to you, but it's easy. In addition, whenever Qing Shuang Fang launches a new scented dew, we will give you a free sample before it officially goes on sale..."

Gu Qingcheng examined the porcelain vase in her hand, inhaling the delicate and pleasant fragrance emanating from it. Suddenly, she looked up at Chen Chang'an, scrutinized him for a moment, and asked, "Young Master, you came to Qunyu Tower today to win the poetry competition. Did you only come to see Qingcheng to discuss business?"

Chen Chang'an understood social etiquette and smiled, "Of course not. Business is secondary. I've long heard that Miss Qingcheng is the most beautiful woman in the capital, and I've admired her for a long time. The main reason I've come here is to catch a glimpse of your beauty..."

In his past life, he used all sorts of polite phrases to close deals.

This kind of scene is nothing to him.

Gu Qingcheng's gaze fell on Chen Chang'an's face. Having seen countless people, she naturally knew that what the young master opposite her said was nothing more than polite words...

Seeing her face is just a pretense; discussing business is probably the real purpose...

Her sense of defeat deepened.

He's the first person in all these years to go to such lengths to see her just to discuss business...

This was the first time she began to doubt her own charm...